Tuesday's Champions League match was frustrating to watch. Certainly, this Milan side are improved from the first few matches, where they looked completely lost. Then, there was the Swiss referee, who was anything but neutral, literally endangering out players for 90 minutes. But losing 1-0 to a powerful Bayer Leverkusen side with an incredible record was not the part that hurt. The part that was difficult to swallow was that we have been told by management that this squad is built for winning in the Champions League. Not only have they recklessly removed Milan's literal DNA, they wantonly and narcissistically dismantled the Scudetto winning team, even strengthening our rivals to do so. Based on last season's European performances and these first two matches, how could anyone think this team is built for Champions League?
Champions League mood.
Just three minutes in, Maignan was tested twice, by Boniface and Tah. The Milan keeper would end up with eight saves on the night. One he did not save was in the 21st minute, when Boniface seemed to have scored, but after a VAR review using SAOT, it was determined to have been offside and thus called off. Leverkusen continued to get chances off, though. I think in the entire first half, Leão and Pulisic each had decent shots, but that was about it for Milan's chances.
Milan battled for all 90 minutes, but it just wasn't enough.
After having given Aleix García an early yeallow for a bad foul on Pulisic, Swiss referee Sandro Scharer glaringly did not card Tapsoba for forcefully shoving Theo Hernández in the face in the 30th minute. Sure, he gave him a stern talking to. But that would normally be a red card or at least a yellow card by every other referee's definition.
There were many other opportunities for Scharer to make proper decisions, too, like whine our players were actually injured. Or when there were calls for penalties, such as when Abraham was taken down in the box in the 41st minute by two players with a lot of contact. But no. Instead, he showed Tiago Rodrigues Leal, one of Fonseca's assistants, a yellow card in the 42nd minute, for dissent. Scharer seemed desperately biased for some reason, and our players were getting roughed up for it, too.
There was a lot of contact from the Leverkusen players, and very few calls from Scharer.
In the 51st minute, Boniface finally got his actual goal after Maignan had made an amazing save on Frimpong, Boniface simply tapped in the rebound that no one cleared. 1-0 Leverkusen. Fofana started shooting, he took so many shots, I lost count, probably at least one or two on target. And Milan looked better in the second half for sure. But it was after Fonseca made his first substitution that Milan really started creating some proper chances.
Morata replaced Tammy Abraham in the 62nd minute, the latter having taken some kind of knock late in the first half. Less than ten minutes later, Morata had a header saved, and a follow up chance, too. He nearly scored in the 73rd minute, then at the other end, Frimpong seemed to kick or step on Maignan's hand (why always in the Champions League?) and Scharer actually gave him Leverkusen's final yellow card of the night. To put things in perspective: Milan were whistled for four fouls the entire match, but were shown three cards (plus Leal's.) Leverkusen were whistled for 15 fouls, but only given two cards.
Morata had some great chances, but not even he could get the ball in the back of the net.
In the 79th minute, Morata was kicked hard in the shin and taken down in the box on the follow through, he was down for some time in pain. VAR did review the play, but no call was given, of course. Fonseca subbed Chukwueze on for Pulisic. There was frustration in the 82nd as Theo took a powerful shot from distance that struck the crossbar, and Morata's rebound was just wide.
Scharer could not protect our players from serious physical trauma, but he showed Morata a yellow card for complaining about a call he made on Theo in the 84th. Loftus-Cheek forced Hrádecký into one of his five saves in the 87th minute. In the 92nd minute, Loftus-Cheek was fouled from behind by Hincapié right on the edge of the box. Not only did Scharer not call anything, it was not able to be VAR reviewed because it seemed to be just outside the line.
Maignan had an epic performance, but he is only one player.
Probably a bit frustrated by everything, including the lack of calls, Chukwueze was shown a yellow for a foul on Tella in the 93rd minute. Reijnders had the last chance in the 95th minute, but Hrádecký saved it. Then, after the final whistle, Scharer cemented his bias status by showing Tomori a yellow card for dissent. Just absurd refereeing, but what do we expect? UEFA only send their best referees when Milan play.
The bigger crime, however, was Milan's inability to get on the scoreboard. Both teams took the exact same number of chances, 16 each, but Leverkusen had nine shots on target to Milan's five. Sure, Leverkusen have been doing amazing things since Xabi Alonso arrived, and yes, they are the reigning Bundesliga champions. But Milan lacked that killer instinct in front of goal, as well as the tradition of technically proficient defending, and also lacking are the types of legendary midfielders who made Champions League nights so special.
A collection of good players, sure, but do they have the Milan DNA?
Obviously, we are only two matches in of a total of eight matches, but Milan sit in the bottom 12 of the 36 teams. Amongst those 12 teams, the only other team that has ever even won the Champions League is Red Star Belgrade, who won one title in 1991. But Milan have won seven Champions League titles. We do not belong in this category, not even just after two matches.
Fonseca insisting on putting his own identity on this team is not helping. But it started with Cardinale's absurd decision and the subsequently senseless narcissism that has seen this entire management send away players who show their worth elsewhere, while the players they spent comparatively large sums on cannot perform on Europe's biggest stage. With only two matches played, our fate is far from sealed, but this team seems to have been deconstructed, not built for Champions League.
Milan Futuro Share the Point in a 1-1 Draw Away to Lucchese
Hodžić heads it into the net for the equalizer.
Lucchese scored an early goal, in just the 15th minute in Monday's match in Lucca. However, Hodžič scored a header from a corner, his second goal in as many matches, just before halftime to equalize. Bonera's side fought valiantly, and the brilliant speed of Jiménez was showcased as chances were created, but in the end, Milan Futuro had to settle for only a point again with the 1-1 draw with Lucchese. Highlights are available on the Serie C YouTube channel.
Milan Primavera Lose 3-1 to Bayer Leverkusen U19 in the UEFA Youth League
Bonomi broke through with a goal, but it was far from enough in Germany.
This match was a bitter pill to swallow. Guidi's U19 version of the Primavera went down 2 goals in the first half. However, they dominated the second half, and Bonomi finally broke through with a goal in the 71st minute to make it just 2-1 Leverkusen. Milan Primavera were doubling their efforts in attack, and nearly scored again, but unfortunately instead, conceded a third goal on a counter attack in the closing minutes of the match to make it 3-1 for Bayer Leverkusen. That puts Milan Primavera in 26th of the 36 teams in the UEFA Youth League with only a point. Highlights of the match can be found at UEFA.tv.
This post inspired by the music of The Smiths' "Back to the Old House"